September's Most Searched Companies

Ah, September. The beginning of fall marks the start of the final push to the sales goal line, and the return of football and TV shows. But for those in the sponsorships and media markets, it means looking at the calendar for early 2017, and there were good reasons some companies got hotter than pumpkin spiced lattes.

This month's most-searched companies include the world's largest contruction rentals company, a petfood company with its paws in a new dog show, a fast-growing electronics brand, a bakery and an online retailer banking on selling Haute Couture dresses that cost as much as cars.

Winmo subscribers can click the company names in the title to go directly to the company info, and we've provided a link for non-subscribers, too.

United Rentals 

We dig the patriotism, but why did the CFO sell 17.76% of his stock? 
After United Rentals named Chris Hummel their new CMO back in March, the equipment rental company saw its stock price climb from $60 to $82 before it spent the first three weeks of September watching its stock price fall, before a rally in the last week recovered half of that ground. Whatever’s happening behind closed doors, the fact that CFO William F. Plummer sold 17.76 percent of his personal shares is hard to ignore (or get much insight from).

>>> Not a subscriber? Click here for the United Rentals company profile.

Nestle Purina

Will this dog hunt? USA Network fetches new dog show and sponsorship opps.
It’s been a busy news month for Nestle Purina. Petfinder, the pet adoption company that joined Purina’s Petcare family in 2013, celebrated its 20^th anniversary and 25 million adoptions at the end of August. That was followed with news that the Westminster Dog Show will move from USA Network to Fox Sports 1 next year, the NBC-owned network will lose more than 2.5 million dog-loving viewers. That gap will be filled by the Beverly Hills Dog Show next Easter, for which Purina is a presenting sponsor. Now’s the time to go fetch those broadcast sponsorship opportunities.

>>> Not a subscriber? Click here for the Nestle Purina company profile.

Beats Electronics

Is the new iPhone's missing headphone jack music to Dre's ears?
In case you forgot about Dre, the founder of the Beats brand of headphones—and the recently launched Beats Music streaming service—was just cleared of fraud ahead of the brand's $3.2 billion sale to Apple in 2014. The launch of the Apple iPhone 7 in the middle of September might not have prompted more sales of headphones (especially those that retail for over $200), but the new iPhone’s lack of a headphone jack, and Apple's ownership of Beats (which is just crushing the competition for market share, especially with millennials and teens), and there’s a good chance some media dollars are going to be shifted that way.

>>> Not a subscriber? Click here for the Beats Electronics company profile.

Bimbo Bakeries

Does a product recall have this bakery whipped?
Bimbo Bakeries, which owns Entenmann’s was forced to recall several brownies products at the beginning of the month, but it’s likely that its announcement that it had named the 15 finalists of its America’s Better Sandwich contest that drew searches in September. The bakery, which owns bread brands, Arnold and Sara Lee, will announce the winner of the contest on November 3^rd.

>>> Not a subscriber? Click here for the Bimbo Bakeries company profile.

Moda Operandi

What's the best new way for the mega-rich to dress for success?
The fashion ecommerce retailer featured in Forbes in mid-September, and talked about bringing Couture to the masses—if we change the definition of “masses” to those who can drop a minimum of $50,000 on a handmade, one-of-a-kind dress that takes 700 hours to create. By turning this luxury shopping into an online experience, Moda may make connecting your celebrity to emerging designers for red-carpet events a little easier.

>>> Not a subscriber? Click here for the Moda Operandi company profile.